PWD calls meet to discuss pedestrian bridge proposal

The Public Works Department (PWD), in an order late Monday night, called for an urgent meeting of stakeholders to discuss the construction of a foot overbridge (FOB) between the Rajputana Rifles headquarters and their training ground located on the opposite side of the Ring Road near Dhaula Kuan.

- Shruti Kakkar

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has taken cognisance of a Hindustan Times report highlighting the plight of Rajputana Rifles, the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, located in Delhi Cantonment, whose men negotiate a smelly culvert that overflows during rains on their way to the parade ground—for want of an overbridge—and directed the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) to file a status report on the matter, terming the situation as unacceptable.

In its report titled "A smelly trail from barracks to grounds: Regiment's daily battle in Delhi," published on Monday, HT highlighted the ordeal of over 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles, who are forced to march through the culvert to head to the parade ground. They do this four times a day — twice before breakfast and twice after dusk even as the Delhi government has failed to build a foot overbridge.

"This court takes judicial notice of a report...on May 26, 2025, wherein it states that over 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles have to pass through a drain which is foul-smelling and filthy when they move out of their barracks and go to the parade ground. The soldiers are required to pass through this culvert four times a day and the said drain is stated to be flooded and is slick with sludge and sometimes near waist-deep in places," a bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora said in an order, released on Tuesday.